Albany First Run Walk & Community Expo spreads cardiovascular awareness

ALBANY, Ga. – The Albany community come together in a display of health in solidarity with the First Run Walk Community Expo.

Over the weekend, participants laced up their running shoes to commemorate Cardiovascular Awareness Month by joining the inaugural First Run Walk & Community Expo, a collaborative effort between the East Albany Run Walk Club and Dougherty Comprehensive High School.

The founder, Aunquarius Brown, reflects on his personal health journey, sharing the profound inspiration behind the Run Walk & Community Expo.

“East Albany is very poverty stricken. We don’t have wellness checks over here. June 2020, I began my weight loss journey. So, I began running in the neighborhood. It was some kids out laughing at me. I was 229 lbs. December came right back around, and I lost a total of 70 lbs. And when I went to that same area, those same kids, they were asking some of the questions, how did I do this? How did I do that? And, I began to shed light in that area of wellness for them, giving them tips. I contacted Mr. Sanders, and he was all for it. And, I want to shed light and show everyone that there is more than what you see in your area. You can be more and you can do more,” said Aunquarius Brown, founder, East Albany Run Walk Club.

Jerry Sanders, principal of Dougherty Comprehensive High School, discusses the collaborative effort that led to the creation of the event.

“We’ve met intensively. We sat and we talked, and strategized. In classes such as human anatomy, and some of our science classes, health classes, and sports medicine class; we see that in our particular demographic on the east side, a lot of our people deal with diabetes, dealing with blood pressure, dealing with health concerning obesity. I think walks that Aunquarius brought about is very beneficial to our students. So, they could be more aware of their health and how we could better support them, understand the benefit of taking care of their health and walking and running,” said Jerry Sanders, principal, Dougherty Comprehensive High School.

Velvet Poole of the ARPD, emphasizes the crucial role of supporting community-driven initiatives aimed at promoting health and wellness.

“Health is very important to everybody, and due to the fact that I’m a trojan, I’m from the east side, and my job title is Community Events Superintendent, which health and wellness is one of my main goals to ensure that our community is healthy. Aunquarius is actually one of our members at our J.C Odom Fitness Center, and he comes every day religiously. I’ve watched his time of losing weight. It’s just fitting for us to come out to support this walk and run club to provide and show people that there are other things that we can do to stay healthy,” said Velvet Poole, ARPD, Community Events Superintendent.

De’Andra Jacobs reporting.

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